Hello friends, Happy New Year! This year I have decided to look for new opportunities with my music and my job. I have been reselling clothes on Poshmark for the last 3 years and let’s just say, it has dwindled down. I am going to sell my inventory at a discount over the next few months and start a new adventure.
Plus, if God really did put me down here to write songs, I think I better learn the best way and write a few more. How about you? Was 2025 everything you thought it would be? Any changes that you would like to make for 2026 (other than the diet thing, we all want that!)?
So in my travels online I came across the Nashville Christian Songwriters Association and their One Song Challenge on FaceBook. It looks like an amazing organization run by John Chisum (Integrity Music/Star Song Media). Here is their About Page,
So, for $15 I entered the One Song Challenge. Here is the course content:
Course Content
Day 1: Concepts, Hooks, and Finding Great Ideas
Day 2: Writing Lyrics That Last
Day 3: Crafting Magical Melodies
Day 4: Song Structure, Arrangement, and Production
Day 5: Stepping Into Your Calling as a Christian Songwriter
If you are a musician I encourage you to join the challenge! I have finished the first two modules and I have to say, I am impressed. It’s great to learn from someone like John Chisum (Integrity Music/Star Song Media). He has tons of experience and knows the business.
Help me choose which version of my song, “God Revive Us Again” I should send in to the One Song Challenge!
Here is where I need your help. One of the challenges was to rewrite an Old Hymn. I Googled Old Hymns and chose “Revive Us Again” as my title. I found a version by W. P. Mackay (1863, 1867) from the Hymnary Website. I purposely didn’t play it, I like to come up with my own version first. Then I’ll play it and see how different things are now, lol!
(Press LISTEN IN BROWSER if you do not have a Soundcloud Account)
Version 1 – God Revive Us Again
Version 2 – God Revive Us Again
Version 3 – God Revive Us Again
Make Your Choice Below, Thanks for your input! I’ll let you know which one wins on or about January 17th!
Best Bible Verses for a New Year
Revelation 21:5 “And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 ” Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].”
Philippians 4:8 Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].
Hebrews 13:5 “Let your character [your moral essence, your inner nature] be free from the love of money [shun greed—be financially ethical], being content with what you have; for He has said, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!”
Job 8:7: ““Though your beginning was insignificant, Yet your end will greatly increase.”
Psalm 71:23: ” My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You, And my soul, which You have redeemed.”
Isaiah 43:18-19:
“Do not remember the former things,
Or ponder the things of the past.
“Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even put a road in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.”
Colossians 3:17: “Whatever you do [no matter what it is] in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus [and in dependence on Him], giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
Psalm 65:11: “You crown the year with Your bounty, And Your paths overflow.”
Lamentations 3:21-26
“But this I call to mind,
Therefore I have hope.
It is because of the Lord’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed,
Because His [tender] compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion and my inheritance,” says my soul;
“Therefore I have hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait [confidently] for Him,
To those who seek Him [on the authority of God’s word].
It is good that one waits quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.”